Amherst: New England Dairy

We had a very nice dinner tonight at Mi Tierra in Hadley, MA. It's not the same as being in California, but it's pretty good and authentic* Mexican. I had shrimp with chipotle sauce - others had shrimp al ajillo, steak, chile relleno and chicken mole. We also ate some great sweet plantains.

Today was an unusually hot day in Western MA - over 90 degrees at the warmest. So when we left the restaurant at 7:45, the air felt wonderful - still warm, but with a nice breeze. I rallied everyone to go to Flayvor's - we got there just in time before they closed at 8. For those who don't know it, Flayvor's is a dairy farm in Hadley - they make their own dairy products, including ice cream (and hot fudge).

I had a hot fudge sundae with malted vanilla ice cream. Sitting out at the picnic table, listening to crickets, smelling the cow and grass-scented air, and eating the sundae with my family reminded me how much I love New England.

After I finished my ice cream, I went down to visit some of the cows. I took this picture on my cell phone as the sun was setting - it came out looking like a painting.

I still haven't started packing, but that's the plan for tonight and tomorrow!

*Authenticity of food is one of the research areas I'm interested in. How do I know that the food was authentic? Who am I to judge? What criteria do I use to decide this, and what would make food *not* authentic. More on this eventually.....but I thought I'd point out that I was using the word, since it's thrown around a lot these days.